650->630->750(Q49, V44) Been there Done That !

Third Time Lucky! I wud say!
Jan 27, 2010 - 650 (Q49, V33)
May, 2010 - 630 (Q49, V30)
Feb 1, 2011 - 750(Q49, V44)

Hey Guys ! Would like to share with you all my GMAT experience.

Profile :-
Indian, English is my second language.
Engineering graduate.
Working as a Telecom Domain Consultant with a top IT company for the past 6 years.

Resources used :-
OG 10, 11 and 12 and Verbal and Quant reviews.
GMAT Prep
LSAT papers
ETS Paper tests
Powerprep CR book
MGMAT books(almost all books of Maths and Verbal)
MGMAT tests
Kaplan 800.
Brutal SC 70
Other resources available on BTG forum.

I was so disappointed with my second attempt scores on the GMAT I decided to take a break and start the prep later. In the meanwhile my wife was also preparing and she was able to score 710 and got an admit from a top US college. So I really could motivate myself to do my best and could rely on her to help me with any problems in Verbal.

Analysis:-
I did some analysis and found that I found SC questions the hardest to crack. And that I did not have a strategy for tackling the verbal questions of each type. Hence, I decided to make a proper error log and started searching the various strategies that people employ. This is very important since without a strategy you will be lost and wont be able to solve the question within a specified time limit.
These strategies will be different for all aspirants and they can tweak as per their requirement.

SC strategy -
1. Read the complete sentence underlined and non-underlined part.
2. Find out the main verbs in the sentence, find out the modifiers, any issues etc. and then scan the answer choices.
3. Most questions have a 3-2 answer choice split and you can easily eliminate 2-3 answers.
4. Based on the 2 or 3 answer choices left select the answer choice which is right.
Note 1: Do not get into the habit of rejecting answer choices for being awkward. Initially try to write down the grammatical mistake in each and every SC question answer choice.
Note 2 : Try to form a study group or talk to someone who is also preparing and try to teach them what you have learnt. Try to learn from them what they have learnt.

CR strategy :-
Totally relied on the Powerprep CR book for CR. Great book great strategy.
1. Read the argument first and then read the queston.
2. Try to personalize any argument and try to think from all angles about it, see if any statistics are mentioned and how they are being twisted. Percentages to numbers and vice versa etc. A limited study being applied generally etc.

The Powerprep book is great book. The best thing is you can read it in a day and can tackle the hardest questions using the concepts.

For Assumption questions :- To start - put down the Conclusion and Premises on paper and note the change in scope or any new info being added to the conclusion which is not mentioned in the Premise. That will be your answer!

For Bold type questions : I don't know but they came naturally to me, so can't help much there.

Parallel reasoning : LSAT paper tests provide good practice for these question types.

Important thing is that GMAT tests your vocabulary indirectly in CR and RC questions. So it pays to improve your vocabulary. Eg. I remember a CR question which I could not have solved without knowing the meaning of the word renaissance.

RC strategy :-
Well, my strategy was to read the complete passage at the first go leaving out the specific details. Making a note of the words such as "however", "But", "Nevertheless" etc. which signal a change in the direction of the passage. Hence you must be able to get the gist of the passage and must know what lies where in the passage. Details can be left to themselves until we have a Specific detail question to tackle.
LSAT papers were a great help here as well. The RC passages are really long and as tough as on the GMAT and once you do the passages and questions of LSAT papers you find the ones on the GMAT quite easy.

Write down the strategy that you will use for each question type in a word doc and review them consistently. I used the above 3 strategies generally and fine tuned them as and when I felt like that I was less comfortable or more comfortable with any aspect. In fact on Test Day I even read the question first for one of the RC passages since I was a bit short on time.

Error Log - The point of making error logs can't be over emphasized. Make an error log to note down all mistakes and keep revising them periodically.

Notes making - I bought 2 notebooks one each for verbal and Quant and started noting all the rules(say in case of SC, any formulae for Quant) or any mistakes that I was making while solving questions. This was thrust upon me by my wife ï�Š I am no big fan of making notes but must say this was a great help ...its like you own flash cards set. Highly recommended!!!

I started studying for the GMAT around 15th Dec 2010. Totally focusing on the Verbal. Started with LSAT tests and started with the CR questions.(A word of caution - LSAT papers do not contain the bold argument question type). Also the CR questions in LSAT papers are a bit more objective than GMAT questions, which are more intuitive. Nevertheless, they are wonderful questions for practice.
I was on bench and hence I was able to put in 4-5 hours of work a day. Also started studying the MGMAT SC book simultaneously. (Making Notes all the time!!) and also noting down any error in the error log.

Using Grid In Verbal and for Quant DS questions - Using the grid is essential since it helps you keep eliminate wrong answers immediately and you do not need to consider those choices again. Use the grid for all Verbal questions and DS questions in Quant.

I put down a six week study plan ....with emphasis on Verbal since I was comfortable with the Quant part.

I gave MGMAT tests every weekend...the first 2 without the essays.

MGMAT tests were a great help, both with the way the algorithm works and with regard to the toughness of questions.

The scores for all 6 tests were in the range 720-740. The results were skewed because I had already done the tests before for my previous attempts. And the RC and the CR questions used to appear familiar....nevertheless I used to work on each question as per my strategy and these tests were a great practice tool. I finished whatever material I had in office time itself.
Finally after 15 days before the test date I took leave from office.

I then started putting in 13 -14 hours into GMAT preparation every day. I finished off the GMAT OG, Q and V Reviews very carefully first noting down the concepts being tested in the error log and making notes of any new concepts. My plan was to finish these books first and then re-visit the concepts and the questions that I get wrong 2-3 days before the Test Day.
I then attacked other resources that I had ...MGMAT number prop. book, Inequalities book, word translations, MGMAT guides for CR and RC.
All the while giving in full attention to MGMAT tests and working on the problems which I got wrong in the tests.

Any concept or any question that I was not sure about I used to paste on the various forums of BTG and that really helped me.

Also would specially like to thank Stacey Koprince and Ron Purewal. They are both great and I got a lot of help from their answers on the all the forums.

In fact I would suggest all aspirants to go to the search field and just type in Stacey Koprince and read all the articles that Stacey has written for BTG. They all are awesome articles and there is a definite intent in each one of them to provide some quality guidance to each aspirant. In short no BS all business!! her articles on how to write essays and how to manage time are just out of the world!

I didn't do much exercise in the last few days as has been advised on this forum but I managed. I could focus fully on studies for 8 hrs at a stretch without requiring any break. So it was fine for me.

During the last few days I started enjoying studying for GMAT infact. I didn't mind skipping a few episodes of the TBBT or Two and A Half Men. I skipped Dhobi Ghat as well ï�Œ inspite of being a big AK fan. But I guess it all paid off in the end ï�Š
Also I was in a state of mind wherein I drew inspiration from the old Geeta saying that "You have the right to work, but no right to fruit " so I just decided to put in my best for any section that I was focusing on. Whenever I felt tired or exhausted I read my notes book that I had so diligently made, or picked up Quant questions which provided a very good distraction.
I had the full support of my wife whom I cannot thank enough despite her job and post admit formalities.

Right ! So for last week I just decided to plan to do all the questions that I had got wrong and the notes.
I had finished with the MGMAT tests so I focused on their tool which provides an assessment of what your problem areas, how much time you are taking for each type of question, how accurate you are, etc. It's the best tool that one can have. It also provides your best and worst times for any question type, with a link to each wrong and right question which you can just right click and open in a new window. Very Highly recommended!

I did all the questions that I had got wrong from my error log and OG 12 + Q and V reviews.

I gave half a day to read through the Powerprep book.

For quant - I revised my
1. Trigonometry formulae, -for Geometry
2. Arithmetic progression formulae - for series questions.
3. Combinations and Probability formulae -

The above I revised from my CAT-IIM prep days. And these can really help in solving any math problem much faster.

In the last 4 days I gave GMAT prep every day. I notched up good scores every time. (You can re-install to give the tests again twice. )I made sure that I give the test in the morning i.e. at the same time as my GMAT.

One day before the test I was in relaxed mode. Although I had planned to write a test on the 31st as well but I just didn't feel like giving one. So I just decided to relax. I watched a movie "The Reaper" on television. And caught up with a few recorded episodes of my favorite sit coms.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep well a night so I slept for a few hours in the afternoon. Finally in the evening I felt like taking a test and I took out my laptop and gave a GMATprep test. I scored a 750 but that was without essaysï�Š
Had a wonderful chicken meal at night and went to sleep.

Test Day:-

As expected I could not sleep well a night but I was still rested. I had a couple of boiled eggs(eggs release energy slowly and steadily) for breakfast and some corn flakes. Took a couple of bananas for the break between Quant and Verbal section and some water.

I reached the Test center on time and to find out that it was just me and another candidate for GMAT that day. We did all the formalities wished each other luck and went in.
I sent my scores to the following schools :-

Darden
Fuqua
UNC- Kenan-Flagler
Ross school of business
Tuck.

Essays :- They were fine just as you would expect them to be. I mean I was able to finish both with 5 min on the clock remaining.

Break : I came out, did a few stretches. But you generally don't feel tired during this break its only between the Q-V break that you feel exhausted. So I just drank some water took my toilet break and did a few stretches.

Quant : Quant was not bad. Though it could have been better but the questions were fine. I could answer most of them and initially on the first 10 questions I was 3 minutes behind time. But after the 10th question I speeded up and made up for the lost time. But I also got some ridiculously easy questions on fractions as my 16th and 17th questions which even a 10 year old in India can solve. I was amazed but again they must have been some experimental questions. I did falter a bit in the middle stages on a few DS questions based on word problems. But that how it is ...I mean you cannot stop to answer each and every question. And from experience I knew that I will get a score even if I get quite a few in Quant wrong. SO I went ahead and made a few educated guesses but never screwed up with the overall timing.
I also made sure that if I made an educated guess for a question I do the next question properly and am fully confident about the answer. I had 4 minutes left for the last 3 questions and I guessed the last but three but finished strongly giving the right answers for the last 2 questions.

Break: I had 2 bananas. I stretched, took some water and made small talk with the attendant.

Verbal : Oh Boy ! Verbal was a breeze ....I was 2 minutes before my time limit on the first 10 questions despite getting 2 back to back RC. ...first 2 questions were SC and then I got an RC passage. It was pretty easy based on some social reform in the US. After this RC I got another RC ...so I got 2 RC passages back to back!! But I didn't find even that too difficult and was able to negotiate them without much difficulty.

For all SC questions I was able to eliminate at least 2 wrong answer choices immediately and was able pick the right answer with ease. I fell behind my scheduled time around question 20 which was another RC passage and I just could not figure out the right answer or eliminate any of the answers. However, it was not a risk since I had already got 3 RC passages by that time and I knew that the majority of the rest of the questions will be SC and CR. So I just took some time but still could not figure it out and so I just marked some answer and moved on, putting the question out of my system.
The rest of the 10 - 12 question were cake walk. Though I had made the answer grid I needed it only for around 7-8 questions which were really tough. The rest I was able to solve onscreen only and select the answer.
33rd question was again RC but it was okay as well. I was able to handle it quite easily.
Another point that I want to mention here is that I was feeling as fresh as I was feeling in the morning. I could have continued to give the Verbal section for another hour and yet scored very well. Guess it was all the hard work that I had done in the past few weeks.
I really concentrate dhard for the last 5-6 questions since time was not an issue and finished the test 10 sec before time.

After that entered the usual info that is required and finally reached the score reporting page. I had to see my score and thought that I have done well and should get at least a 700+. I clicked on the Next button...It waited for a little while and then Eureka ! there it was a 750 ...I was elated I just raised my hands in air high above my head and muttered Yes!!!!

That's it guys !!

Let me know in case you have any specific questions or queries.

A big thanks to all the MGMAT instructors who are active on BTG!

This topic has expert replies